


Subway Stockings

by minttcm



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Fluff, Gay Bar, Lots of dialogue, M/M, sing is confused, soft, they take a walk in the red light district, yeet is emotional and sing is good with words, yuesing, yut lung finds solace upon meeting sing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-10-03 13:06:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17284622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minttcm/pseuds/minttcm
Summary: ⌜"This was heaven for the guilty and Chinatown was merely a playground. It terrified him. The mere fact that no amount of pistol wounds, hijacked cars or bruises made him any more of a man in front of a woman clad in a skimpy leather suit leading him into a tavern of intoxication. He eyes her men, each man built differently yet perfectly to cater to each and every taste.He told himself he'd only look- nothing more beyond the world he'd made for himself, but coming across the third man from the right, his river of dark hair loosely gathered in cherry red string, eyes like ice, cold but glistening accompanied by a thin smile, he knew he had lost.Sometimes man is their own serpent, trying to find excuses for things they really wanted deep inside. "⌟Sing Soo-Ling leaves the comforts of Chinatown and ventures into the red-light district  of New York on his twentieth birthday. He merely came to observe, but stumbling upon Lee Yut-Lung, an impossibly beautiful but lost man, he finds himself unable to leave so easily.





	Subway Stockings

For the first time in his life, Sing Soo Ling sets foot on the concrete jungle- and it feels like velvet upon his feet. An intimate mess tangled up in lights, for a moment he wonders how such an outrageous thing could be kept secret from the eyes of many. But the amount of visitors and people almost suffocate him.

_It's not that nobody knows, it's just that they don't choose to speak of it._

This was heaven for the guilty and Chinatown was merely a playground. It _terrified_ him. The mere fact that no amount of pistol wounds, hijacked cars or bruises made him any more of a man in front of a woman clad in a skimpy leather suit leading him into a tavern of intoxication. He eyes her men, each man built differently yet perfectly to cater to each and every taste.He told himself he'd only look- nothing more beyond the world he'd made for himself, but coming across the third man from the right, his river of dark hair loosely gathered in cherry red string, eyes like ice, cold but glistening accompanied by a thin smile, he knew he had lost.

_Sometimes man is their own serpent, trying to find excuses for things they really wanted deep inside._

"Him," Sing whispers, almost hoping she wouldn't hear his words through the loud blasts of music and he'd be able to go back home instead. But she does anyway, her ears pressed close to his mouth, she gives the man a knowing smile and he nods in return.

"Yut-Lung, this can be your last for tonight." She puts a weight towards the end of her sentence enticing a frown.

"Don't you expect me to come back?"

"Would you?"

Sing anticipates the answer of a conversation he does not understand, but he does not hear any more. Suddenly, grabbing his arm, he is led outside the building.

"Come with me for a while." Yut-Lug mutters and he feels his cheeks flush. _Burning, burning, burning._

* * *

  
The lights flicker an ugly yellow, the air is a different kind of cold and he smells freshly heated buns. It's a dingy old convenience store tucked away behind cheap hotel acommodations. Yut-Lung makes his way toward the rack, crouching down to a short array of cheap stockings. "Mine ripped a while ago. Does your boss have a fine taste? Most won't notice but some are picky."

"No one sent me, I came alone."

"Is that so?" He pauses, tightening the string on his hair. "Then maybe pick what you like."

Sing couldn't get any more red. "I don't-" His palms begin to sweat at the man's intent gaze, waiting for an answer. He notices the slight pink that colors his otherwise pale face and the warmth that actually pooled in his eyes. This man had been vulnerable all his life.

Yut-Lung seems to understand after a few moments of silence and stands up, picking two popsicles from the freezer.

"Just because I refuse doesn't mean I'm a kid, you know."

"Adults aren't all bitter, darling." He replies, smiling. He pays for the popsicles and pops one in his mouth almost tauntingly, letting his client grab the other one, trying to avoid as much eye contact as possible.

"Wives and husbands must condemn you," Sing muses quietly, stepping out the store and holding the door.

"Not like I feel any wedding rings when they touch me." He laughs bitterly.

_He was an apple._

"Sometimes, I think, people are like convenience stores. Don't you think?" Yut-Lung starts, the cadence of his feet mimicking the rhythm of Sing's.

"What?"

"You know, open 24/7, people go to you when they need something until you run out. But they never do expect you to run out, they'll think you're always made for them." His tone on he verge of breaking down. 

Sing couldn't answer but he couldn't stay silent either. Perhaps, in human aspects, they were created all the same. "That's right, we're all damned anyway. But it's only the choices we make that differentiate us from one another. If you let yourself be selfish even for just one second- then you'd realize you're not some crappy old convenience store."

"Yes, I'm probably much worse than that."

He sighs. "You know that I didn't look like much when I first entered that club. I looked like some kinda scum who wound up in the wrong building. A dead weight on society- that's what they'd call me. But look, Chinatown is my lifeline and out of sheer curiosity I left not knowing what I'd find." He smiles, almost captivated at the look of childish fascination that drew over Yut-Lung's face, anticipating each of his words. "And I found you. Now you just have to find something or someone too."

_You're not worthless, you're just lost._

Yut-Lung begins to feel the tears in his eyes, threatening to fall down any minute. He fans them away, turning his head from Sing.

"D-don't cry, dammnit!"

His heart feels lighter for some reason. "I know! My eyeliner isn't exactly waterproof, you know."

"You're Chinese anyway, the land of pandas."

"As if you aren't."

"You're the one living the nightlife here and yet I have eyebags for days. We're already even." Sing retorts, hands stuffed in his pockets.

**_The city seems so much warmer despite the cool night air. For the first time in his life, Sing Soo Ling sets foot outside the concrete jungle with someone by his side. He finally understands the intricate mess, one shared only through looks and never words. And he leaves silently, bringing along his one and only secret._ **

_Nobody really does know anything, but they speak as if they do._

"Hey Sing,"

"Mm?"

"I'm not lost, I have you. I don't have to find anything else."

"That's cheesy as hell."

"Shut up, you only have yourself to blame."

"Yeah. Are you going back tomorrow?"

"Never."

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first fic in Banana Fish and it's been stuck for so long so I decided to go ahead and post it. It really needs some work but maybe I'll go over it someday. But thoughts are welcome.


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